


Frozen, not Drowned

by Ahhuya



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: (I'm just doing what I want and have zero plot), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Frozen 2 (2019)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:14:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22072354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ahhuya/pseuds/Ahhuya
Summary: When Elsa broke the ice underneath Ahtohallan, it wasn’t just her who fell into the ocean. Six years earlier, Iduna and Agnarr had found themselves frozen in her depths. Now, unfrozen, there is many missed events to be learn about.
Relationships: Agnarr/Iduna (Disney), Anna/Kristoff (Disney)
Comments: 139
Kudos: 384





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I realized I needed a fic project outside my usual fandoms to just distract myself with in case I can't focus on my other ones. So this one doesn't have any set plot or schedule, just me, updating whenever and however I want (if ever)  
> I fell in love with Frozen II, but I'd also love to find more of Iduna and Agnarr being alive and seeing how their daughters matured without them. So now I have an excuse to do so.

When the ship sank, it was supposed to be over. With the waves towering down on top of them, it wasn’t clear if it would be the cold or the water that’d kill them. The ship was lost, along with its crew.

Iduna had thought to die there, in the arms of her husband without any new answers to their daughter’s powers. Although much could be answered pure by logic. She had told Agnarr about her past before, and while he had been happily surprised, it had not made much difference for him. The whole idea of the spirits was still foreign to him, where for her it had been a longing for years to reconnect with them again.

Somehow, after all those years, Ahtohallan hadn’t forgotten her. When the sea calmed down, she found herself with her Agnarr on the edge of the glacier. The icy shore felt welcoming, and with her husband close to her, she entered the icy caves of the frozen river. The soft humming of the walls called them forwards, leading them deeper, through steep cliffs and traitorous drops.

After fighting the blocks of ice in the path, they arrived at a dome. One by one, illusions would show on the ground and surrounding walls. There, Iduna could see the happiness from her past, and her tribe, along with the day she saved her future husband. All of these, events the both of them had lived through and told each other about. And then there was Elsa, from the day she was born, to her accident with Anna and every day in solitude following after.

“Is this the magic of the spirits?” Agnarr asked her as he watched the visions with amazement.

Iduna nodded, but this was like none of the spirits she had lived with. This was a power that went above the four spirits, and used them to hide from normal people.

“Why was our daughter born with magic?” Iduna asked, and the river answered. The ground opened up to show figures of ice walk across the room. People of the past, once alive, now gone with nothing but memories to remember them by. There, Iduna watched herself safe Agnarr again, as the battle between the Northuldra and Arendellians broke out.

The lullabies had always been clear. There was a certain path to follow, a certain amount of knowledge to gain before the dangers would get out of hand. Agnarr had never grown up with those lullabies, and the few he had heard her sing wouldn’t have been enough to have the same effect. Because here, Iduna watched her husband follow the image of his late father, and her old tribe’s leader. An ice wall was all that separated them as the men walked away. But between Aggnar’s sword and Ahtohallan’s wish to show more of the story, the ice broke quickly.

There, the shadows kept walking on, down a path, even deeper into the glacier. Until they walked down a frozen waterfall, into a void with no clear bottom. All her life, Iduna had heeded her parents’ warnings about the river, and the message the songs had carried. But when Aggnar jumped to after the shadows to find answers, Iduna didn’t hesitate to follow him.

The songs always warned about being drowned, but it would be the cold that took them out first. With the ice of the glazier freezing her over, she watched her ancestor being murdered as she desperately tried to find warmth in her husband’s arms. The ice would be their death. The ice that had been gifted to Elsa by the spirits to be a bridge between the worlds. And the cold would be their prison, until one day, the ice broke by new magic and the drowning part finally came.


	2. Where The North Wind Meets the Sea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the good reactions to this  
> One pro for me with this being a side project: I don't have to worry about wordcount for every chapter

The first thing she noticed was the cold, followed by the feeling of drowning. In the wild currents underneath the glacier, she tried her best to grab her husband and hoped to find the surface of the water. It didn’t work. The water was a stampede of horses, hammering her deeper and deeper towards the bottom. The spirit of water had always been the hardest to work with, with a mind of its own and no true gain from human interaction. The dark sea was its true home, wild and dangerous. With Runaerd’s dam cursing the waters, the spirit had stopped listening forever, running its own course without a second look at the humans who had hurt it. If it were up to the spirits, Iduna was sure she were to drown in the cold waters once more. As she closed her eyes, she agreed it was better to just let it happen.

**…**

A single thought from far away split the water horse in two. One ran to Arendelle in a hurry, the other returned to the depths of Ahtohallan. To save Arendelle, the bridge had told it, and to save its people. Some of those were already drowning in the dark sea. The horse had made sure of that itself, just like it had tried to do so six years ago.

Back then, it had been the river to stop it from succeeding. Now, it was the bridge. From the cold, dark waters, the horse picked up the bodies of the man and woman so dear to her. They were unconscious, but breathing once they were above the surface. With a fast gallop, the horse brought the two people to the edge of the fjord and left them there to wake on their own. No further look was spared as the horse ran back to its other half. Right now, everyone of Arandelle was saved. That was all that mattered.

**…**

The idea of partial drowning wasn’t one Iduna wanted to get used to. But when she woke up again the dark sea was out of sight, replaced by the calmer tides of North Sea against the sand. Looking next to her, she saw the rise and fall of Agnarr’s chest. They were both alive. Somehow.

Iduna shivered. The water and the glacier’s ice hadn’t done much good to her clothes. She was freezing to the bone.

“Agnarr.” She shook her husband softly. “Wake up.”

He stirred, groaned and slowly opened his eyes. Confusion set in his gaze as he looked around.

“Where is the glacier?” He asked, when he truly noticed the autumn trees were not a part of the frozen river’s domain.

“We were carried away. Something brought us back.” Iduna said, looking over the sea and the forest bordering the short beach. How long had they been gone for? It hadn’t been late autumn when they left Arendelle, and with the cold wind picking up, it seemed winter was already approaching. The kingdom had been left alone without a king in the time one was needed the most.

“We need to find our way back home.” Agnarr said, pushing himself up from the sand.

“But first, I want warmer clothes. You too, love. We’ll freeze this way.” Iduna told him. With the sneeze that came from Agnarr in response, she knew she was making the right call.

As she rose and walked to the shore, a soft wind welcomed her. It was friendlier than the winds of Arendelle had ever been, and after all these years it felt almost foreign. She smiled as the wind blew past her, whispering to her as if to portray it had missed her. Even in her wet dress, she felt more at home than ever.

**…**

Years of royal training were worthless when it came to making a fire in the wild. Iduna had shed most of her dress layers and urged Agnarr to do the same. Now Agnarr looked at a pile of wood as he shivered in the cold breeze. He had gotten rid of his jacket, but it wasn’t better this way. Not really. Even with Iduna pinned against his side, her hair down after the waves had ruined her hairdo, sharing her body heat, it was cold.

Right as Agnarr was about to give up on the fire, a purple flame jumped between the logs, lighting them on fire one by one. He passed it on as a hallucination from the cold, even if Iduna chuckled next to him and warmed herself on the flames.

“I missed this.” She whispered. Agnarr wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer. He too had missed the time where it would be just the two of them. They were moments of their childhood, a young king and an unknown villager who didn’t know about personal boundaries. Times had been different then, when they didn’t have to think about all problems of their kingdom yet.

“We should get home soon.” He said, watching the flames slowly eat at the wood. “We shouldn’t have left the children alone.”

“But we found answers.” Iduna said. “Elsa was a gift from the spirits. She is a bridge for us.”

“Does it make a difference?” Agnarr asked. “It won’t make her powers more stable by being a gift.”

“But she will know who she is. She can learn to accept them as her own.” Iduna grabbed her husband’s hand and looked at him. He sighed in defeat. There would be nothing to do against the ice of his daughter. His wife’s spirits had wanted it to be like this. And if Elsa could learn that, they could reunite the sisters again.

“We need to go home.” Agnarr said again. “And make up for everything that went wrong in the past.” But for now, it would need to wait. It had been an exhausting day, week and even years for the two of them. The night was already coming. Arendelle could wait for one more day.


	3. Darling, Homeward Bound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a big hatred towards writing traveling scenes, so this is a bit short and messy (and as always, unbeta'd because I'm a mess)

The fire was out when they woke up the following day. A colder breeze set through the fjord, where the red autumn leaves fell down into the slowly rising waves. The city of Arendelle would still be a long walk, needing to pass the mountains and surrounding cliffs. It had been a while since Agnarr found himself in these far corners of his kingdom. He had noticed the tall birches the moment he woke up in his wife’s arms. They never grew close to the castle or the city, where the stronger green trees were more prominent.

Further north would be the magical forest, somewhere hidden under an impenetrable mist. He hadn’t been there ever since the accident in his childhood, not wanting to risk any new conflict with the unknown. So instead, he focused on the way south, back home, a track that would take a long time without the aid of horses and carts. With some luck, there could be ice harvesters in the mountains, before the ice would be easier accessible closer to home. But ice and frost were tricky things to deal with, that even outside of winter could provide situations neither royal were waiting for.

It didn’t seem to bother Iduna at the moment. Ever since waking, her head was focused on the sky, the waves and the soft breeze. Her gaze followed the flow of the air. With each passing second, her eyes darkened. She hummed under her breath, a tone Agnarr clearly remembered from his childhood. The wind lived up with each note.

“It seems alive.” Iduna said, her hand tracing through the air flow. It seemed to make a happy noise whenever the wind strengthened. “It hasn’t been alive in years.”

“Do you think something happened? With the spirits?” Agnarr asked as he put an arm around her and pulled her close.

“Maybe. We should get back soon. Prepare for whatever may be coming to our kingdom.” She looked at the sea. It calmed down since the previous night. “We may know what went wrong back then, but as long as we don’t know how to get to the forest, we cannot risk our people get into danger just because we’re not there for them.”

Agnarr hummed in response. He knew his queen well enough to know that she was familiar with what the spirits of her past were like. It couldn’t live up to his one day around them.

“We’ll start walking.” Agnarr said. “And make sure to let someone know we’re on our way.” The last thing could be harder than expected. Their home was still far away, their girls alone in the castle with uncertainty. Usually, they would send a message ahead of them, but in the woods there was no one to take their message from them. And whatever travelers would be out, might not be able to send a message far ahead.

He turned to the forest and frowned. Their clothes had dried overnight, but were still torn and cold from the icy ordeal. They could barely be noticed as royalty, the strong mustache on his face perhaps the only sign left of a richer background. It made for a good change whenever he found his reflection in a puddle. Iduna looked more alive than ever. The royal dresses had never been her thing, neither was the castle. A life confined to the royal gardens for ten years wasn’t ideal either. So the change to nature was a good one.

And so they started walking. Although the Northern Mountains would be a faster route back home, the pass would be hard to get through without their horses. It meant they had to settle on a longer, but easier track along the coast. No ice harvesters, but perhaps a small chance of a ship on their way to Arendelle from the North. If there were even other ships that dared to cross the Dark Sea.

Most of the time was spent without another person joining them. Once in a while, they met a reindeer herder who offered them food and good company, but those were less present the more they left the cold regions of the mountain ridge. None of them recognized the king and queen, or were on their way to Arendelle to accompany them. Most of them were awfully silent about the country to begin with, apparently avoiding it for the coming time.

The journey itself was lonely, but good for catching up between the royal couple. There turned out to be a lot of things that were hard to talk about between the castle walls. Even with closed gates, the future of their daughters had been difficult to see. Now, new answers and time alone gave a better insight than the past years of rushed decision ever had.

A week later, the first recognizable areas of their kingdom came to sight. The sandy roads leading to the valley of trolls, and the stone bridges to the end of the fjord. Agnarr could almost smell the fish markets from here, and see the green roofs of his father’s castle. Not much later, he found himself walk up the hills he remembered to have hunting practice on. Climbing up the cliffs, two large stones met him.

“Strange.” Agnarr said, tracing one of the stones with his hands. “I don’t remember us erecting these.”

“I don’t remember us being dead either.” Iduna whispered as she walked to the front of the stones. When Agnarr joined her, he understood what she meant.

There, on each stone stood their names. ‘Queen Iduna, she died in the sea’ followed by ‘King Agnarr, he died in the sea’. Exact dates were lacking on the stones, but judging by the discoloration, they were exposed to the elements for a while.

“Who would do this?” Iduna asked, and the wind grew stronger around her. Agnarr wondered the same thing. There were no actual rules when it came to a death at sea, although one would need to wait at least a couple of months before declaring a death in absentia, and the ships journey shouldn’t have taken more than a few weeks. Before it went down in the waves. But there would have been no one to declare the king and queen lost. No one else had been lucky enough to come back to land.

Agnarr remembered the memorial stones of his own parents to be closer to the city. His father didn’t have a body to bury, but Rita was convinced to keep her husband’s stone small. So that she could easily be buried next to him in the church. The prominent stones this clear before the city's border felt like more than Agnarr thought he deserved.

He frowned at the sight of his own grave, reading the runes multiple times to let it sink it.

“We need to go.” He said. If they were to be dead to their people, then Arendelle had no king or queen to rule in their absence. They had to get to Elsa.

With a newfound rush, the two left the stones behind. The presence of the memorial stones meant that their home couldn’t be far away. Over the hills the smell of the fish market and the ice blue roofs of the castle were waiting for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first I wanted them to find the statue Anna made of them, but seeing my current timeline, she'd have to find an amazingly fast artist to fix that in like... a week? So I decided to have them find their graves instead.  
> Ah well, at least I can actually start getting to more fun parts now. I have been thinking about more changing POVs (mostly Anna's), but right now, I kinda enjoy just staying with Agnarr and Iduna instead.


	4. Some Things Never Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While editing this chapter, I had huge talk with my parents about the plot of Frozen and every inconsistency of those plots. So that was fun :'D

Evening was starting to fall when they made it to Arendelle. The sun set behind the fjord and the city was almost the same as he remembered it. The sound of the seagulls above the streets hadn’t changed, just like the smell of the nearby sea. Some parts of the city, however, _had_ changed. There were alleyways and houses Agnarr couldn’t remember. New shops he didn’t officially open. He may have closed the castle for thirteen years, but the issues of the city had always stayed close to him. He would know if the Hanssens rebuilt their entire house. And yet he didn’t. There were people in his city he had never seen before, who lived in houses his oldest friends used to stay at.

In the harbor lay ships from neighboring countries, as well as some of places Agnarr never had treaties with. Merchants walked through the streets, checking out the goods that were on sale. The ice harvesters had good business, with sleighs loading blocks of ice at each place in need and even loading some on board the ships. Although with winter coming, the business could soon plummet. It had every year.

The royal couple walked through the place, unnoticed by their subjects. The feeling of home was overwhelming. The sea was never a place for the both of them to stay for long, and after the latest journey, Agnarr doubted they would ever take out to the seas again.

While they were wandering the town square together, it suddenly hit him what was truly wrong. Something that had bothered him since they arrived.

“Iduna,” he said, “correct me if I’m wrong, but since when are our roofs blue?”

“Never,” she answered, “and the gates-”

Were open, he noticed. Even though Elsa had always been told to keep them closed, even if no one else but her was inside the castle. The look of the ice on the roofs did nothing to ease his worry. Agnarr didn’t think twice as he picked up his pace and went straight to the castle.

The sides of the bridge were decorated with Arendellian banners, but instead of the golden crocus, the green and purple flags were decorated with the profile of a queen. Coronation banners. Agnarr hadn’t seen those since he was officially crowned king when he became an adult.

As they got closer to the castle, it became clear is wasn't just the gates that had been opened. Windows were no longer blocked off and balcony doors stood wide open to let fresh air fill the halls. Villagers walked around the courtyard like it was the most normal thing in the world. With the sun now down, the castle became less crowded. The king walked through the people, past the guards and back to his home.

The servants were lingering around the courtyard and stables, where a number of horses and reindeer were stalled.

“Gerda.” The king called out the woman he recognized. She looked up, her face paling at his voice and appearance.

“Oh no,” Gerda whispered, “I’m not dealing with another magical event during a coronation.” She said and with quick steps, she turned and disappeared inside. She had looked older, but she seemed more alive than she had in years. Before the fright set on her face.

Following after her, Agnarr and Iduna walked inside. The king recognized the walls of his castle when he entered, the red walls and wooden floors. The family portraits of his father, mother and ancestors and daughters decorated the halls.

His feet carried him through the halls, up the stairs all the way to Elsa’s door. He knocked. No answer came. He knocked again.

“Elsa, are you in there?” he asked. He tried to open the door, but it was locked. Elsa never left her room, or kept the room locked when she wasn’t there. It had become an unspoken rule between them. He frowned.

He looked up when new footsteps came into the abandoned halls. A woman walked towards them, her eyes focused on a letter in her hands as she passed them. She stopped in her tracks for a moment and turned around. It was Anna, Agnarr realized. He would recognize those beautiful blue eyes and freckles anywhere. As she turned to face him, he noticed the light streak in her hair was gone, as well as the youth she had had when they left. Looking at him, was a woman. One with a clear lack of sleep.

She blinked, looking at them before shaking her head. “Elsa didn’t say this was a thing.” She said and rubbed in her eyes.

“Anna,” Iduna reached for her, “come here, darling.”

“Yeah that’s definitely new.” Anna shook her head. “Too many all-nighters. That’s for sure.”

“Anna-“ Agnarr started, but new footsteps from the other side of the hallway stopped him. There was an ice harvester standing there.

“Hey babe, I was looking for you.” He walked to her before he noticed the others. “Who are they?” He asked.

“Wait,” Anna blinked and switched her gaze between the ice harvester and her parents, “you see them too?”

“Well, yeah. Are you okay?” The man asked and walked closer to the princess. Agnarr felt his hand curl in a fist. There was nothing wrong with ice harvesters. It was an honorable job after all. But the higher floors had never been accessible to them. And this man was more at home than he should be. Iduna grabbed his hand and immediately made him calm down.

Anna gasped and put her hands before her face. “This can’t be real.” She whispered and reached out. Iduna was the first to take her hand. She smiled, but Anna’s face only grew more worried in return. Before Agnarr could reach out to her as well, she had retreated her hand again and took a step back.

“You can’t be here. Why are you back now? This-“ She shook her head, “this can’t be happening.”

“Anna, what is going on?” Agnarr grabbed her hand before she could walk away even further. Her eyes were filled with tears when she looked at him.

“I don’t know.” She said. “I don’t understand how you’re here. Like nothing has changed.”

“What has changed?” He asked.

“You were dead for six years.”

A silence fell. Agnarr felt his own breath stop while Iduna gasped. But before they could ask questions, Anna spoke again.

“It’s late, and I’m exhausted, we should probably just do this when we’re all more awake. I can give you a room for the night.” She said. “Tomorrow, when we all have had time to think and everyone is here, we can discuss what has happened.”

“Kristoff,” Anna turned to the man, “can you ask Kai and Gerda to meet me in my room in ten?”

The ice harvester nodded and left. Anna sighed and straightened out her dress. “Come, I’ll lead you to your room.” She said and started walking.

“If you’re looking for Elsa, she isn’t at the castle right now. We haven’t used her room in years now.” Anna said as she led them through the same red corridors they had come from. “She was planning on coming back in a few days, but I’ll let her know we have an emergency. She can bring Olaf here as well, he’ll probably do a better job at explaining everything.”

She didn’t bring them to their own bedroom, but instead led them to one of the guest bedrooms.

“We were preparing for early arrivals for the coronation. So you can stay here while we figure everything out.” Anna opened the door to a room and let them inside. “Goodnight, father, mother. If you need anything, just let me, Kai or Gerda know. I’ll make sure they are told about your return and have them bring some of your things to you.”

And with that, she closed the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Agnarr and Iduna: *return to Arendelle*  
> The entire castle: Can we have /one/ normal coronation please?
> 
> I'm thinking I might throw in Anna's POV for the next one to work out her, Kristoff and Elsa a bit more


	5. What Comes Then

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit shorter chapter, which I personally see as a bit of an interlude. I recently started a new job, so my updating will get slower for sure now.  
> Agnarr and Iduna are the main POV of this fic, but I wanted to show a bit of how Anna deals with the event of the evening, which would probably help with what will happen in the upcoming chapters as well
> 
> And as always, thank you so much for all the love this fic has been getting. I love reading your comments on this <3

With a sigh Anna opened the door the her bedroom. Parts of her possessions were stacked in boxes, preparing to move to the queen’s chambers once Elsa had officially moved out. Now, it felt useless to do so. The boxes with her parents’ things were still stored within the castle. They could be moved back whenever, she just never expected to have to do so.

In front of her bed stood Kristoff with Kai and Gerda, each with a different kind of concern on their face.

“I’m sorry I called you this late.” Anna said. “But seeing you two worked here the longest, I wanted to let you know before everyone else.”

“Is this about king Agnarr?” Gerda asked.

Anna looked at her in surprise. “Yes. How did you know?”

“I saw them enter the castle earlier. I thought it was just my mind playing tricks with me.” The maid confessed.

“You’re not the only one.” Anna smiled. She still wasn’t sure if the sight of her parents hadn’t just been a product of stress. Collective hallucinations across multiple people were rare though. “But they’re real, and they are here.”

“How?” Kai asked.

“I don’t know.” Anna said, shaking her head. There was no logical explanation, not one she could come up with. “I’m asking Elsa to come back to the castle as soon as possible, but while we figure this out, I would like the two of you to take care of them. Until we have more clarity about this, Arendelle doesn’t need to know.”

“Of course, your highness.” The two servants nodded.

“I brought them to the guest chambers we had prepared for Snoob. We’ll make arrangements for that tomorrow. For now, you are dismissed.” Anna told them.

The servants nodded strongly and took their leave. When she was alone with Kristoff again, Anna walked to the window and sat down in the windowsill. Most of Arendelle was covered in darkness, only streets and certain houses still lit by lanterns. It almost felt like nothing had ever changed.

“So…” Kristoff said as he sat next to her, “ _that_ was not a thing I expected to find right after work.”

“You don’t have to tell me.” Anna groaned and leaned against him. “I have one day on my own and this is what happens.”

“They look exactly like the paintings.” Kristoff said. “Like they never left.”

Anna hummed. In looks they were the same perhaps, but that would be the only thing about them. They couldn’t be the same.

“I know this is very surprising and all.” Kristoff continued, “But how do you know it’s really them? With a new coronation happening, it could just be another scheme from someone wanting to take over Arendelle.”

“Hans wouldn’t go that low.” Anna huffed.

“I didn’t say it would be Hans, it could be anyone who doesn’t like you or Elsa. And let’s be honest-”

Hans would go that low, and there were enough people out there that didn’t like the idea of a magical queen and her family ruling Arendelle any longer. Kristoff was right, some part of her knew that already. It wasn’t every day your parents came back from the dead, and walked back inside the castle like nothing had happened. Six years had passed and her parents didn’t look a day older than when they had left.

She needed Elsa for this. She wasn’t afraid of making her own decisions on this, she would need to as queen after all, but they were sisters and this was a family issue. Elsa had a more difficult relation to their parents to begin with. It couldn’t wait for the three more days it would take for Elsa to finish up talking with the Northuldra.

Anna stood up, grabbed a piece of paper and started writing.

‘ _Elsa, there’s an emergency. Don’t worry, I’m fine, but you need to come back. Please pick up Olaf from the ice castle as well. I’ll explain everything when you get here._ ’

She nodded to herself. That would be enough for now, everything else would come when her sister was home.

She opened the window and held the letter to outside air.

“Gale, be so kind to bring this to my sister.” She said. The wind passed her from inside the room and took the letter. The piece of paper flew into the night, across the fjord and away to the forest. The window was closed again and Anna sighed.

“Come here.” She said to Kristoff, and melted in his arms when he embraced her. She took a deep breath. Their family had always managed to get through everything. The return of her parents, or whoever they could be, would be just another thing to overcome.

“Do you want me to stay with you tomorrow?” Kristoff asked.

Anna shook her head. “Elsa should be here in the afternoon, and you should be with the other ice harvesters for winter preparations. Just be here when Elsa comes home?”

Kristoff hummed in agreement. He didn’t let her go as they headed for bed, and in his arms Anna hoped to catch the sleep she needed so badly.


	6. Turn Away And Slam The Door

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, school, work and then Tangled took over my life so this took a while. I swear it's not a good idea to fall into another Disney franchise while working on this, but here's an update anyways

Iduna couldn’t sleep that night. Kai knocked on their door thirty minutes after Anna had left and gave them some of their clothes, with the apologies about their state. Surely they had seen better days, the smell of fresh flowers and their vibrant colors long faded, but it was better than what they had worn for weeks.

Once the servant had left, Agnarr and Iduna talked for hours. A certain unease had fallen over Iduna when Anna told them Elsa wasn’t in the castle. Her daughter was a strong woman, but the trolls had warned for her lack of control. She hadn’t had control for all the years they knew her. Ahtohallan’s information could change that, but Elsa would need to be home for any information to be of use.

Eventually the exhaustion of the journey and the softness of the bed caught up to them. The morning arrived before they knew it. Soft rays of sunlight slipped through the window and woke them. Iduna slipped out of bed and walked to the window. It gave a view over the cliffs. It didn’t feel like years had passed. Perhaps the sea had washed away more of the rock at the bottom of the fjord, but one would need to watch the water carefully every day to notice it. Now, Iduna realized she had been such a person, always watching the elements she had grown up with.

A knock against the door brought her out of her thoughts. “Mother, father, are you awake?” Anna’s voices sounded from the other side of the door. Iduna walked to the door. It was only eight in the morning, she couldn’t remember her daughter ever waking up this early.

Anna was already dressed when Iduna opened the door. Her hair was tied up in a bun, her dress simple and brown in color. Ready to take on the day.

“Kristoff went out early to instruct the ice harvesters. I wondered if you’d like to share breakfast before Elsa gets here.” Anna said.

Iduna looked at the bed, where Agnarr sat. He had had a worse sleep than her, exhaustion set across his face. There was much to think about and the night hadn’t been enough to talk about everything. When Agnarr caught her gaze, he nodded.

“We’ll be right there.” She answered Anna. “We can meet in the dining hall.”

Anna nodded, albeit with a slight frown on her face. “I’ll see you there then.”

And so, once more, the door closed.

**…**

The castle halls were empty when the king and queen went to get breakfast. Even with reduced staff, the walks had never been _this_ empty. When they entered the dining hall, food was already served, no servant to be seen. Only their daughter. 

The table was filled with toast, crackers and a wide arrangement of cheeses and meats. A simple and quick breakfast, perfect for busy days. Iduna remembered the days where crackers were all she’d have to get her through the day.

“If I’d known you’d come, I would have had the kitchen prepare.” Anna said as she sat down at the head of the table. “But with everything going on, I thought simple would suffice. It’s all we’ve been eating while planning the new coronation.”

She was right. The taste of freshly baked crackers was a delight after weeks of sailing and wandering.

“We noticed the banners.” Agnarr said. “Is Elsa only now stepping into power?”

“Elsa?” Anna frowned. “Oh no, she’s the one abdicating.”

Agnarr dropped his knife, the clattering echoing through the almost empty room.

“She didn’t do anything, did she?” He asked.

Anna shook her head. “She can explain it herself, but you don’t have to worry. The people love her as queen.”

Agnarr and Iduna shared a concerned look.

“And if this is about the fear of the people for her powers, it was never _their_ fear that caused us harm. It was Elsa’s for her own power.”

“She told you.” Iduna realized.

“I learned about it three years ago, but I wish I never forgot.”

“You know we had to, to save the both of you.” Agnarr said.

Anna sighed. “I know, but it’s not just for me to talk about.” She took a bite of her cracker. “Elsa can tell her own story to you.”

The king and queen nodded and continued their food. Neither dared to speak another word as they ate. Explanations would come, Anna had said so many times, but it would seem that more questions were needed before answers were provided.

Anna ate quickly and little. Her eyes kept looking forward as she took in her parents. And although Iduna tried to focus on the food primarily, she couldn’t help but return the look. Formalities had never been Anna’s biggest forte. The breakfasts with her would be lively, filled with chatter and excitement. But Anna was silent, and in return, so were her parents.

The moment they all stopped eating, Anna excused herself to work and offered to walk her parents to the library to wait for her sister’s arrival. Two stairs up, and three corridors later, a reindeer crossed their path.

“Hey Sven,” Anna walked to the reindeer and scratched it under its chin. “Did Kristoff tell you to keep me company?”

The animal seemingly hummed in agreement.

“Of course he did.” Anna smiled. “He seemed worried last night. But we’ll be okay, you can go to him. We’ll get you all the carrots when you come back.” She said.

The reindeer looked at her, then at Agnarr and nodded softly as if it understood her words.

“Since when do we allow reindeer in the castle?” Iduna asked as she lay her hand on the animal’s nose as it passed by. It huffed happily and leaned into her touch, before he walked away.

“Oh, that’s just Sven. He’s basically family.” Anna said. “And he’s definitely not the strangest thing you will see around here. Not when Olaf returns from the mountains at least.”

“Who is this Olaf? Another ice harvester?” Agnarr asked.

Anna shook her head. “Let me show you something.”

She quickly turned another hallway and stopped at the balcony looking over the fjord, deep inward to where the Dark Sea lay in the distance. In front of the balcony, were two portraits. The right one, Iduna recognized. Agnarr had commissioned it before the accident happened. It showed their family like it should have been, with two happy children, side by side.

Next to it, was a portrait she didn’t recognize. She easily saw Anna, who looked almost the same as when they had left. The woman next to her, seemed nothing like the daughter they had left in her room for years. Her hair was down in a braid, the Arendellian dresses exchanged for a bright blue one. Yet the two sisters were together and looked happy. She had already met the reindeer and ice harvester. The only other anomaly in the picture was the large snowman in the picture.

“Olaf.” Iduna smiled as she suddenly put things together. “You girls always played with him when you were little.”

Anna nodded. “Elsa brought him to life three years ago, along with some other creatures.” There was a sparkle in her eyes as she spoke about her sister. It was the same sparkle she had had before the accident. Anna knew about the powers, and the sisters were once again loving each other deeply.

“It’s far from traditional.” Agnarr said, inspecting the painting closer.

“You say that as if we ever kept tradition a thing. It was all lost the moment you closed off the castle.” Anna raised her voice. “Please excuse me, I have a lot to arrange before my sister gets here. If it even has any use now.” She mumbled the final part.

She sighed and straightened her dress. “A coronation doesn’t wait.” She smiled, but Iduna knew her youngest daughter good enough to see when the smiles were fake. Like every time the king and queen would leave the castle, and she pretended to be happy for them. It was that exact same smile, hiding every piece of discomfort from the unknowing eye.

“Of course it doesn’t.” Iduna said and wrapped her hands around her husband’s arm. “We’ll wait for you. There should be enough for us to catch up to.”

Anna nodded and her expression softened. “I promise we’ll figure this out. But if it’s anything magic related, Elsa will be our best way to learn about it.”

“We understand. Do what you must.” Agnarr said. There was still reluctance in his voice, but he was learning to live with it. They all were. They separated their ways, Anna to the offices, Agnarr and Iduna to the library. Both waited until the sound of hooves across water could be heard from outside.


	7. Let It Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait on this one, life got busy (and still is) and this chapter turned out quite difficult to write. So in the end I decided to stay with what I first came up with, I still think it's the best way to go

Agnarr recognized his old library. The books were still in the same spot as where he’d left them, covered in a layer of dust now. Some books had been moved, books he recognized as those he and Iduna had hidden behind the cases when Elsa’s powers started to grow. Surely the girls knew these things by now. Six years was a lot of time and the girls weren’t stupid. The books couldn’t teach them what they could teach themselves.

Instinctively, he walked to the book that had started most of it. Runes printed on pages, along with a map leading to a valley of living rocks. Trolls weren’t the strangest thing in the world, not after everything he had gotten to see in his life. It fit right in with the magical rivers, living winds and his daughter’s ice powers.

“When do we tell them?” He asked Iduna, because there was so much they had learned about that the girls needed to know. Their grandfather’s betrayal, the gift from the spirits, and the presence of energies that shouldn’t be awake. Iduna had been the one to notice the latter more than he did. Of course she would, the wind had been her oldest friend. And it seemed to follow her around wherever it could. It was hard to ignore after a while. Arendelle was prone to strong winds, but never did they follow you in every direction and into houses.

“We will need Elsa for that. They both need to hear it.” Iduna said.

Agnarr nodded. They would wait until both their daughters were home and enough was cleared between them that they would listen. Elsa was always the more reasonable.

“Anna didn’t seem happy to see us.” He muttered as his hand traced the backs of his books.

“If it’s been as long as she says it’s been, she has all right to. How would you feel if your father stood before our doors now.” Iduna said.

“I would have been happy before.” Agnarr sighed. “But now, I don’t think I will be.”

“We separated our daughters for years, they’ve been reunited, but not because we let them. They might not know what to do with us.”

He nodded. Perhaps secrets had never been the way to go. The secrets between him and Iduna, followed by the secret their daughter had to carry before the entire kingdom. He sat down in the windowsill with a book in hand. He never opened it, too caught up in the life of his people happening underneath him.

**…**

Hours later, he thought he heard a horse walk before the castle. Wet galloping sounded from underneath the window, but as quickly as it came, it disappeared again. With the mysterious horse came new life in the castle. From behind the door, Agnarr heard the sound of footsteps coming their way. One strong, the other soft. The two were talking, and as Anna’s voice became clear, so did the voice of her sister.

“Anna, If this is about another game of charades, I told you we could do one after your coronation.” Elsa spoke as she came closer. He hadn’t heard that voice with that much confidence before. Elsa had always had an uncertainty with her, a fear of things she couldn’t control. He almost didn’t recognize his own daughter in this.

“It isn’t about that. I promise.” Anna’s voice replied. “Just come with me.”

The door to library opened, and there stood both their daughters, side by side.

Unlike Anna, Elsa had changed a lot from the painting in the hallway. Her hair was lose and she wore a white dress that dazzled even without sunlight hitting it. She had always had a face that hid her emotions, probably better than she could hide her powers. But each part of her expression broke the moment the door opened.

Elsa’s eyes were locked on her mother. Her feet dragged her forwards before she embraced her mother. Her head rested on her shoulder and she let out a deep breath. Then, her eyes focused on her father. She held out her hand, and he took it. It was warm.

“Mother,” Elsa whispered, “father… How?”

“I was hoping you knew.” Anna said as she stepped closer.. “With the spirits being your new friends.”

“I don’t know.” Elsa let go of her mother and shook her head. “Where were you?”

Iduna sighed and looked at Agnarr, nodding softly.

“We didn’t go to a wedding.” He said. “We were worried about you, Elsa. We hoped to find answers.”

“We know.” Anna interrupted him. “We found your ship in the Enchanted Forest. It was empty, except for the map to Ahtohallan.”

“We lost the ship in a storm before we found the river.” Iduna explained. “We made up for what went wrong in the past, and all the things we should have told you girls before.”

“I saw you there.” Elsa said, and now, even Anna seemed surprised. “You called me there.”

Agnarr had never seen or heard his wife after he fell into the frozen waterfall. And judging by her reaction next to him, Iduna had never seen Elsa there either. Not after the icy sculptures had sank into the deep, and the woman before her was not the same one they had left behind. And that was only one of the things that didn’t make sense in their story.

“How did you manage to get into the forest? Or know about the river apart from fairytales?” Agnarr frowned. “It was locked off thirty years ago.”

“I woke the spirits.” Elsa sighed and looked at her hands. There were no gloves. She had never looked as free as she did now before him.

“Anna said you weren’t here when we arrived yesterday. Did you go to the woods?” Iduna asked.

Elsa smiled. “I’m going to live there. The kingdom was never my place to stay, I belong out there, with the spirits.”

Iduna looked at Agnarr and he nodded. “We should talk about what we saw in Ahtohallan. The truth about your grandfather.” He said. It didn’t have to wait.

“That he murdered the Northuldra leader?” Anna huffed. “Learned that the hard way.”

Elsa fell silent, her hand went to her sister’s. A reassurance.

“The forest is okay now. Everyone got out.” Elsa smiled. “We made up for our past mistakes. Including yours.”

The last part wasn’t meant to be a final blow, Elsa wasn’t like that. But she couldn’t help that it _was_ a final blow. Every single piece of information that could have made up for the years they were gone, turned out to be useless.

“And now?” Iduna asked. There wasn’t much else

“Arendelle should know about you soon. But first,” Anna smiled, “there are probably some people you should meet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I'll slowly introduce more characters and work towards an ending with that. Hope to update again soon, but no promises <3


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